Even embracing for a second the notion that spreading municipalities out over vast tracts of land connected by cars is ethical and sustainable (which I don't)... the stereotypical midwestern suburb I grew up in had a lot of modest single family homes. The developers kept large stands of original trees. Homes backed up into forests, parks, and (natural) ponds.
The houses were generously proportioned for four people.
Then the wave of McMansions hit. The contrast was night and day. Same families, but the houses were twice as large, adorned with like... Fake columns and endless unnecessary fake architectural flourishes and ugly facade exteriors. The houses were jammed into tiny lots with no trees and no yards. The developers cut down all of the natural landscape and installed ridiculous fountain jets in drainage ponds. Side by side with the rest of the neighbourhood it was (and remains) ugly, excessive and soulless.
That's what a McMansion means to me. It's the white collar commuter's Ford F150 of a house.
And to be clear people have hated McMansions since long before the "millenials," what a weird "fuck you, got mine" take.
The houses were generously proportioned for four people.
Then the wave of McMansions hit. The contrast was night and day. Same families, but the houses were twice as large, adorned with like... Fake columns and endless unnecessary fake architectural flourishes and ugly facade exteriors. The houses were jammed into tiny lots with no trees and no yards. The developers cut down all of the natural landscape and installed ridiculous fountain jets in drainage ponds. Side by side with the rest of the neighbourhood it was (and remains) ugly, excessive and soulless.
That's what a McMansion means to me. It's the white collar commuter's Ford F150 of a house.
And to be clear people have hated McMansions since long before the "millenials," what a weird "fuck you, got mine" take.